September 15

. Ve shall not he afraid of evil tidings.” — Psalm cxii. 7.

^/*^/^-iriISTIAN, you ought not to dread the arrival of ci)! tyil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, f.rat do you more than other men? Other men have not your 0 1 to fly to; they have never proved His faithfulness as yew have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear; but you profi.ss to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively lope, and your heart lives in heaven, and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, whit is the value of that grace which you profess to have receive I? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claiu. to possess?

Agftin, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are you would, douhflcss, he led into the sins so common to othen under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. Will you fall into that saaie fin? AVill you provoke the Lord as they do? Moreover, uv converted men often run to wrong mean? in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your u«ind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, ai.d wait patiently for Him. Your wisest course is to do as Moi-cs did at the Red Sea — “stand still, and see the salvation of God.” For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calui composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you ’ play the coward? S.’.ints have often sung God’s high praises .n the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if ytou had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then lake courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, “let not your heart be troubled, neither ki it be afraid.”